For all of the talk about the big bad corporations, it is irrelevent to the issue.
Point in fact, before Windows, there was a world of chaos.
Before Microsoft, people struggled at work just trying to do their jobs. Now, we take it for granted.
Yes, Windows is not perfect, but that is no reason to go attacking the innocent users of the product whose only desire is to get work done.
I do not buy the argument that it is Microsoft's fault because they did not write perfect code.
These criminals are attacking the users, not the company and that is WRONG!
There is no defence for terrorists who attack innocent people at random.
If someone came into your home and destroyed your computer, you would call the police.
Who do we call, when the network enables these cowards to hide.
Why do they create this garbage?
Commiting crime at this level has to be premeditative and can only be the result of very evil people.
There is NO justification for what they are doing.
There is also NO excuse for the maintainers of the web to continue to permit people to autonomously get away with these crimes.
They can stop it and the problem would go away.
My question is why have they not implemented such changes?
This is not a freedom of speach issue, it is about aiding and abetting criminal activity.
It will only stop when we leave these cowards no place to commit their crimes and get away with it.
Our choices are few, but it would be better and more cost effective to verify users and content at the source of the IP provider than it is to tolerate these malicious attacks.
Enough is enough!
It is time to act.
NOW!
Sorry for the rant, but this whole issue has been allowed to go on way too long and cost way too much money. We can and should fix the problem!

Agreed. The original use of "hacker" in the computer context was a term of respect, a badge of honor. Somehow our culture and media have altered its meaning to refer to criminals who wreak havoc, rather than those who can proudly claim to have solved a problem in fewer lines of code than the guy who did it before him.

In response to those who defend hackers: Sorry, it is probably a case of our using the wrong term to describe those malevolent beings who seek to cause damage. The ones we are critical of are the creators of the vast assortment that can be described as "malware", including viruses, worms, trojans, spoofs, and other forms intended only to cause damage and distress.
I also resent those who have become dictators of the computer world, amassing huge fortunes while foisting some of the worst, most user hostile, anti-intelligence, operating systems on us, all in the name of ?????. All that, and the same organization has destroyed quite a few companies along the way. So it is clear why they have enemies. I understand that. BUT, don't damage me just because I wind up using the tyrants products, OK? Unfortunately, I am stuck with them.

I would raise my voice to defend the original notion of "hacker". Please take a look at http://hacker.org and try to solve the challenges and puzzles there.
Software industry itself provokes the disruptive behavior of hux0rs and such. Just how many of you had to run "Windows Genuine Advantage" software without really getting any advantage? In all my work I have yet to see "a counterfeit" Windows : non-licensed - yes, plenty,but a "clone" or "rip-off" or "fake" - none. When you read a license agreement before installing software package do you understand that it's one-sided - you have no rights, sign it or leave it. It's pretty much one level below highway robbery. So what do you expect from people who have sufficient knowledge but were not able to incorporate and do an IPO.

I agree, to an extent, with Erebus, in that those who create and send out the varied forms of destructive code are criminals, and that they certainly should be dealt with in a manner able to convince them to never do it again. They certainly do qualify as the most cowardly of terrorists and criminals.
However, I also fault the organization that sells the most prevalent, and grossly bloated, operating system, for leaving in so many security holes in the rush to market each new creation. I realize that it is difficult to assure that a multi-gigabyte OS is bug free and has no openings for the evil intenders, so why not make it a lot smaller? And why not package those worthless features separately, so that folks who don't want them don't need to purchase them? Smaller code that does much less, and does it in only one way, is a whole lot easier to make secure. This will always be true.

I take exception to labling these criminals as Hackers. Hacking is a noble profession where inventive and creative people adapt components and equipment into new and interesting devices.
What these people are doing is called "Vandalism and Theft". These are criminal activities which are fully covered under current law and all perpetrators should be prosecuted to the full length of the law. Preferably at the end of a rope!
While these undisciplined idiots cause fear and havoc, they also waste millions of hours of productive time while innocent people are just trying to do their daily jobs.
I consider the current actions of these lawless, self rightious people to be every bit as evil as the Taliban and Al Quida. Terrorism by any other name is still wrong!
I urge every honest person across the world, if you know someone doing these heinous acts, please turn them in. If your local law enforcement group does not act, let the world know who they are so we can hunt them down and stop them once and for all.
These people are not just playing games, they are abusing an open media and are a public nucence at the least, but by law, they are criminals. They should be treated as such.

Once someone starts attacking hackers for good purpose, how do another person differetiates him from real hacker? That will become quite confusing. Do one has to register or inform before gonig on hacker attack mode?

I appreciate the thought, but since hackers usually work through numerous hijack sites before they reach their target, it may be close to impossible to destroy the real culprits. Then again, I could by cynical and state that the anti-virus people have little incentive to eliminate hackers altogether.